I don't think those fireplaces are that much to worry about, probably don't even need firebrick - cheap pavers may work fine. But pavers (or brick) would probably scratch the ipe, in case you take the fireplace away.

When I put down my deck planking, I left some boards loose, laying around. They left black marks on the ipe. But I think the sun finally bleached out the stains.

So I am not sure what you should put between the ipe deck, and the bricks or pavers. Maybe someone here has a suggestion. Otherwise call the folks where you got your ipe.

Folks at eastteak probably know.

The class A fire rateing ipe has is a burn thru time,ipe will defently burn like all wood will. Sparks junping out on the ipe will probley not be a major thing but the radiant heat over time is a threat until the ashes build up in the fire bowl. Radiant heat will transfer right into any brick/rock/pavers. Best idea is to allow air movement under any thing the fireplace sits on.

John

Little different scenario.

I had a friend that had a smoker BBQ on his deck with a clay pot sitting on the deck to catch ashes. First time he used it, he burnt a hole through his deck.

Sure thing, dooer and John Hyatt, ipe makes for great firewood, in spite of the "fire-resistant" talk you hear when you buy it.

Up here, in the northeast, if it grew in a tree that drops leaves in the fall, we burn it in the winter. My ipe and garapa scraps burn hotter then heck. Just don't expect to start a fire with that stuff. It's not kindling.

My wood stove in the basement is up about 6" on pavers. I have firebrick on stacked top of the stove, but it just doesn't get that hot underneath. And of course I don't have a hole in the wood stove to let the ashes out onto the floor. That would obviously would be a bad idea.

Hope that helps.

I have noticed ipe will slowley turn to charcole in a fire then burn up real fast so I am thinking it does make for a hot flame put on a going fire in the wood stove.

Several life times ago I had a business installing wood stoves in Oregon, I got called out on repair due to house fire every now and then. It was common to find those old solid steel stoves placed too close to the sheetrock ,always with the same story from the homeowner " well sheetrock dosent burn! the instrustions said so many inches from combustables " and this was true it really wont burn becides the thin paper on the outside.

However sheetrock will conduct radiant heat. Depending on how hot that stove was run in a fairley short time the studs behind the sheetrock will trun to charcole. Then its just a matter of time when the right draft comes along and that wall will torch up in a second.

To see it more clearley if allum foil is placed behind the stove and allowed to flot on the wall, that is with a small space between it and the sheetrock, that same stove stoked up to red iron in the same home in the same place will not even warm up the sheetrock and have no effect on the wood studs behind at all.

It has to do with convection currents air heating up,rising, being replaced with cool air from below. Its the same with a fireplace/hot coals container placed right on the wood deck,or composite,or any decking radiant heat will have a direct conductor. Built up ashes will dampen the radiant heat but the Best protection is Air Space under the fire container.

J.

Ipe burns very hot. We primarily heat our house with a wood stove. If we put more then 1 ipe scrap in at a time, the stove turns into that red iron John is talking about.

Mark

Oh, and just to add to dooer's point about having a clay pot on the deck with ashes in it.

Ash cans are exactly as described - cans made of steel.

One time, and only once, a long time ago, I collected ash from the wood stove and put it into a 5 gal plastic bucket (on a concrete slab). Within a few hours, the bucket melted.

So hot ashes and ipe deck would also seem companions.

Meant to say

"So hot ashes and ipe deck would also seem bad companions."

It never a good idea to expose any decking to hot ashes/bright embers/flying sparks. Ipe gets its fire rating because it takes much longer for it to react to fire than say Cedar or Yellow pine. That is it reacts simular to creet or steal the rating is a Burn Thru thing not a Burn Proof thing. J.

I built a homemade fire pit out of some extra brick I had laying around, and I just lined the thing with three courses of brick on the bottom. It sat on my pine deck and I recently removed it as I am replacing my deck and it didn't seem to do any damage at all to the pine boards underneath it.

Riles